The Beast Is Open for Business

UNION SQUARE—Starting today, sandwich shop Num Pang is serving snow cones. Choose from Lime Lemongrass topped with Lychee and Pineapple Ginger topped with Toasted Coconut.

12th St. West of University

This finding from the Union Square Partnership:

The Union Square Partnership analyzes and promotes visitor activity by conducting pedestrian and bicycle counts every two years over several Fridays and Saturdays in July.  Working with BFJ Planning, counts were taken from 8 AM to 10 PM at 26 locations around Union Square Park. To gain the most accurate account of how many people move through  Union Square on a typical summer day, the data gathered was then combined with transit turnstile information for the 14th Street – Union Square station. The station is the fourth busiest subway hub in NYC on a weekday and skyrockets to second position on weekends. Based on turnstile count patterns, it is estimated that during the summer a record-breaking 383,000 people visit the area on a Greenmarket Friday over a 24-hour period, a 10% increase from our last survey.

Find the full 2014 Pedestrian Activity Report here.

Next week (November 21 to November 25), DOT approved street connections to underground utilities on Fifth Avenue and 13th street will continue. Superstructure work will continue at cellar, 1st, and 2nd floor levels. Sidewalk sheds will continue being erected around the perimeter of the site. The project will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, 11/24, and open for work on 11/25 and 11/26, weather pending. The following week (November 28 to December 2), we will continue superstructure concrete and slabs. Street utility connection work will continue.

This very interesting article from the New York Press describes the battle between a noted urban planner and his son, who happens to be the Parks Commissoner. They disagree about the future design of Union Square and they’ve been battling publicly. Ouch.

Here is the corner of 13th and 5th, looking at the NE corner which now, of course, is The New School. This photo dates to the 1930s. Interesting how many changes have come to this corner over time.

Read it here.